Perhaps the last pass in star quarterback Aaron Rodgers' career sailed to the opponent, ending the Green Bay Packers' playoff dreams this NFL season.
With a victory over the Detroit Lions, Rodgers would have made it into the finals for the fourth time in a row, so after the 16:20 (9:6) home defeat the season for the Packers and the Super Bowl champion of 2011 is over.
What will become of Aaron Rodgers?
And with it, perhaps, Rodgers' glorious football career. The 39-year-old quarterback still has a contract for next season, but Rodgers hasn't decided if he'll continue playing. "There comes a time when the carousel stops and it's time to jump off. Is it time for me?" Rodgers asked himself after the game. "So soon after the game it's still too early. I want to put all the emotions aside first and see how I feel when some time has passed. It also depends on what the team is going to do."
After the last play, Rodgers fueled speculation about a possible retirement by refusing to swap shirts with opponent Jameson Williams. "Special" jerseys he would like to keep and give to someone else, Rodgers explained.
The playmaker was voted the most valuable player in the league four times, most recently in the past two seasons. This season Rodgers could not build on his top performance for a long time, threw as many passes to the opponent as ever before in his long career.
After a weak start to the season, the Packers had improved their playoff chances with four wins in a row and had it in their own hands on the last day of the main round. Rodgers gave his team a 16-13 lead late in the third quarter with a touchdown pass to Allen Lazard. But with three and a half minutes remaining, Rodgers' long pass was intercepted by Lions defender Kerby Joseph.
The Lions were able to downplay the time - also because the German-American professional Amon-Ra St. Brown was able to secure the thrown ball with an artistic insert from his lower leg. Rodgers walked off the field for perhaps the last time in his career.
Superstar Brady with Tampa in the playoffs
Other star quarterbacks in the NFL were more successful: Tom Brady had made the playoffs with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the penultimate game day, so the 17:30 (17:10) away loss to the Atlanta Falcons was irrelevant. Brady broke his own 2021 NFL record by five, completing 490 passes that season.
Patrick Mahomes also set a record on the last day of the main round: When his Kansas City Chiefs scored 31:13 (24:3) against the Las Vegas Raiders, the quarterback passed for 202 yards and ran another 29 yards himself, which put the 27-year-old in this season comes to a total of 5608 yards. Mahomes surpassed the previous record of Drew Brees (5562 yards). While Mahomes has a bye with the Chiefs in the first round of the playoffs, Brady meets the Dallas Cowboys with the Buccaneers.
The Buffalo Bills won their first game after Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest. In the 35:23 (14:14) win over the New England Patriots, Nyheim Hines ran into the end zone twice after a Patriots kickoff, making it the eleventh time in NFL history that a player has done so twice in one game. Hamlin spoke to his teammates via video call before the game and followed the game from the hospital. In the first playoff round, the Bills meet the Miami Dolphins, who won the ticket by beating the New York Jets 11:6 (6:6).
